1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a board-connecting connector adapted to be connected directly to a board, having a circuit formed thereon, so as to connect this board to another board.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-370972, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A board-connecting connector is adapted to connect two boards with each other, and this connector comprises a spacer member for being fixed to the board, a connector housing engaged with this spacer member, and electrically-conductive terminals received in the connector housing. One example of such board-connecting connector is shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B.
As shown in FIG. 8A, this board-connecting connector 200 comprises a connector housing 60, terminals 70 received in the connector housing 60, and a spacer member 80.
A strip-like projection 82 is formed on the spacer member 80, and engagement projections 84 are formed on opposite end portions of this strip-like projection 82, respectively, and also an engagement projection 86 is formed on a central portion of the strip-like projection 82. Similarly, two engagement projections 84 and an engagement projection 86 are also formed on a reverse side (lower side in the drawings) of the strip-like projection 82.
As shown in FIG. 8B, elastic lock arms 62 for being engaged respectively with the engagement projections 84 are formed at opposite end portions of the connector housing 60, and lock portions 64 for being engaged respectively with the engagement projections 86 are formed on a central portion of the connector housing 60.
The lock arms 60 and the lock portions 64 are formed integrally with opposed side walls 65 of the connector housing 60.
As shown in FIG. 9 which is a side-elevational view, when the connector housing 60 is fitted on the spacer member 80, the side walls 65 are pressed by the engagement projections 84 and 86, and are elastically bent or deformed outwardly over the entire length thereof. Therefore, when attaching the connector housing 60, an insertion force, large enough to elastically deform the side walls 65, is required, so that a connector-attaching force and a connector-disconnecting force increase.
And besides, the lock arms 62 and the lock portions 64 are formed integrally with the side walls 65 of the connector housing 60, and therefore deformation, such as a sink and a warp, can develop on the relatively-thin side walls 65 during the formation of the connector housing 60. As a result, the lock arms 62 and the lock portions 64 are deformed as a result of deformation of the side walls 65 as shown in FIG. 10, and this has invited a problem that the connector-connecting operation can not be carried out properly.
With the above problems in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a board-connecting connector in which the deformation of lock arms are prevented during a molding operation, and an insertion force, required for a connector-connecting operation, is reduced.
To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector which comprises a connector housing having a pair of side walls formed on opposite sides thereof; a plurality of lock arms formed on the side walls of the connector housing; at least one terminal receiving chamber, into which a terminal is insertable, formed in the connector housing; and a spacer member engageable with the connector housing, the spacer member having a plurality of engagement portions which are respectively engageable with the lock arms of the connector housing, wherein a plurality of slits are formed in the side walls so as to partially separate the lock arms from the side walls.
In this connector, when the engagement portions are respectively engaged with the lock arms, the whole of each side wall of the connector housing is not elastically deformed, but only the lock arms are elastically deformed to engage the engagement portions, respectively. Therefore, the inserting force can be reduced. And besides, even when the lock arms and the engagement portions have slight dimensional errors, such dimensional errors will not cause a strain, such as a warp, to develop on the other portion of the connector housing, and therefore the shape precision can be maintained.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the lock arms are respectively formed on opposite end portions of the side walls, and the engagement portions are respectively formed on opposite end portions of the spacer member. In this connector, at least two of the slits may be formed in each of the side walls so that a separate portion of each of the side walls is located between the lock arms. With this construction, the connector housing and the spacer member can be connected together in a stable manner.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the lock arms are further formed respectively on central portions of the side walls, and the engagement portions are further formed respectively on central portions of the spacer member. In this connector, at least two of the slits may be formed in each of the side walls so that each of the lock arms is located between separate portions of each of the side walls. With this construction, the connecting stability of the connector is enhanced, and the connector housing and the spacer member can be connected together more positively.
Further, the slits may open toward the spacer member engaged with the connector housing.
Furthermore, the lock arms may be opposed to each other. In this case, when the spacer member is engaged with the connector housing, the lock arms can sandwich the engagement portions.